The present invention relates to a connector for being attached to the end of a coaxial cable composed of an internal conductor and an external conductor consisting of a corrugated tube.
A connector for a coaxial cable of this type has been disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 8-78105 of which two inventors are the inventors of the present invention. This connector will be described as follows, making reference to the connectors a and a' shown in FIG. 6. Each of the connectors a and a' is composed of a first connection cylinder b which is fitted onto the outer surface of a coaxial cable 100, a tubular central contact c which is joined to the end of an internal conductor 101, and a second connection cylinder d which is placed coaxially with the central contact c and joined in series to the tip of the first connection cylinder b in such a manner as to protrude through the end of the coaxial cable 100. The central contact c is housed in the second connection cylinder d in a state where the central contact c is not in contact with the cylinder d, whereas the end of the external conductor 102 is contacted to the second connection cylinder d. While the connector a with such a construction is attached to the end of the coaxial cable 100, the other connector a' is attached to the end of another coaxial cable 100 as the connection target. Then, a connection is established between these connectors a and a' by means of a bar-like anchor connector f with connection portions e and e at its both, which is formed separately from these connectors. To be more specific, the flanges g and g of the second connection cylinders d and d of the connectors a and a' are contacted to each other so that the external conductors 102 and 102 are joined to each other, whereas the central contacts c and c of the connectors a and a' are connected with each other by means of the anchor connector f so that the internal conductors 101 and 101 are joined to each other.
However, since the connection between these conventional connectors a and a' is established by means of the anchor connector f, each connector is required to include the tubular central contact c for letting each end of the anchor connector f fit thereinto. Furthermore, each connector is required to make the second connection cylinder d long enough in the axial direction in order to cover the protruded portion of the central contact c and to let the flanges g and g be contacted to each other. For this reason, the whole length of each connector must be large in the axial direction, which increases its weight, making it troublesome to be handled or stored, and which also raises the cost. In addition, the electric connection between the internal conductors 101 are established by means of the contact points: the central contact c of the connector a, the anchor connector f, and the central contact c of the other connector a', so that the continuity resistance increases in proportion to the number of electric contact points.